The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

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Thursday, June 30, 2016

Turkey and Israel: Happy Together? - Burak Bekdil

by Burak Bekdil

Ironically, the futile
Turkish effort to end the naval blockade of Gaza is ending in quite a
different direction: Now that Turkey has agreed to send humanitarian aid
through the Ashdod port, it accepts the legitimacy of the blockade.

Ostensibly, almost everyone is happy. After six years and countless
rounds of secret and public negotiations Turkey and Israel have finally
reached a landmark deal to normalize their downgraded diplomatic
relations and ended their cold war. The détente is a regional necessity
based on convergent interests: Divergent interests can wait until the
next crisis.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the deal, calling it a "hopeful signal for the stability of the region."

Secretary of State John Kerry, too, welcomed the agreement. "We are
obviously pleased in the administration. This is a step we wanted to see
happen," he said.

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinks that the
agreement to normalize relations will have a positive impact on Israel's
economy. "It has also immense implications for the Israeli economy, and
I use that word advisedly," Netanyahu said,
in likely reference to potential deals with Turkey for the exploration
and transportation of natural gas off the Israeli coast.

A few years ago, according to the official Turkish narrative, "Israel is a terrorist state and its acts are terrorist acts." Today, in the words of Turkey's Minister of the Economy, Nihat Zeybekci, "For us Israel is an important ally."

Turkey has long claimed that it would not reconcile with Israel
unless its three demands have been firmly met by the Jewish state: An
official apology for the killings of nine Islamists aboard the Turkish
flotilla led by the Mavi Marmara which in 2010 tried to break the naval
blockade of Gaza; compensation for the victims' families; and a complete
removal of the blockade. In 2013, Netanyahu, under pressure from
President Barack Obama, apologized for the operational mistakes during
the raid on the Mavi Marmara. The two sides have also agreed on
compensation worth $20 million. With the deal reached now and awaiting
Israeli governmental and Turkish parliamentary approvals, the narrative
on the third Turkish condition looks tricky.

Announcing the deal, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that
a first ship carrying over 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid from Turkey
to Gaza, part of the deal between Turkey and Israel, will set out for
Ashdod Port on July 1. A 200-bed Turkey-Palestine "friendship hospital"
will also be put into service as soon as possible. Turkey's housing
agency will engage in a development project in Gaza, too. And that is
fine.

But then Yildirim claimed that the embargo on Gaza will largely be
lifted under the leadership of Turkey. That is completely wrong and
simply an effort to cheat, aiming at Turkey's domestic consumption. A
maverick way to tell Turkey's massive Islamist voting base: "Sorry, we
have failed to remove the blockade of Gaza but are trying to sell it as
if we did." Even before the deal, Turkey, like other countries, was free
to send humanitarian aid to Gaza through Israel's designated port of
Ashdod. Now it will send aid through the same port, not directly into
the Gazan shores. Hence, Netanyahu's caution that "the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza would continue after the deal."

After six tiring years of concerted efforts to isolate Israel
internationally unless Jerusalem removed the naval blockade of Gaza,
Turkey had to go back to where it first took off and, in embarrassment,
trying to sell the deal as a major diplomatic victory. One
pro-government columnist flagrantly wrote: "Ankara opened a humanitarian corridor to Gaza and accomplished the freedom flotilla's historic mission."

All the same, the government's propaganda machine now spreading the
message that the great power Turkey got Israel on its knees is not
always working well.

"It looks like the government has given up on its principles and values. It will lose support as a result," said Ismail Bilgen,
whose father was one of those killed on the Mavi Marmara. "The Justice
and Development Party [AKP] enjoys great support due to its resolute
principled stance on issues but this move is in total contradiction to
that."

He added:

"Restoring ties in this manner is unacceptable. The
Israelis are acting like the compensation is an act of benevolence on
their part rather than a punishment for their crimes ... My father and
his friends died trying to bring international attention to the inhumane
blockade imposed on Gaza and to have it lifted. It now appears like
their martyrdom will have been in vain."

"Our struggle will continue no matter what. I am against
it [the normalization deal] completely ... In no way should an agreement
be reached or friendship established with the Zionists calling
themselves Israel, and who have blood on their hands ... Our president
[Recep Tayyip Erdogan] when he met with us told us the blood of the Mavi
Marmara martyrs was sacred. I hope our president doesn't concede to
Israel in any way and doesn't make a deal."

Too late, too wrong. The deal will go through, and under the
approving looks of Erdogan. Ironically, the futile Turkish effort to end
the naval blockade of Gaza is ending in quite a different direction:
Now that Turkey has agreed to send humanitarian aid through the Ashdod
port, it accepts the legitimacy of the blockade.

Burak Bekdil,based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8346/turkey-israel-togetherFollow Middle East and Terrorism on TwitterCopyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.